After months of pressure and exhaustion from their activities in the presidential election, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, both resorted to their comfort zone: their role as fathers, when they joined around 600 disadvantaged children from across the city to celebrate National Children's Day, at Taman Suropati in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Sunday.
Kalla and Fauzi shared jokes while taking turns to explain the dangers of smoking and littering.
"Tell your father that if he still wants to be your father, he has to stop smoking," Fauzi said.
"If he doesn't want to stop smoking, tell him that you would prefer to be the governor's or Vice President's child because they don't smoke. I dare you to say that," Fauzi said after a young girl named Tias asked the two officials how to stop her father from smoking.
Kalla took his turn to advise, "You should tell your father that smoking could make him and the entire family sick."
Both also advised the children not to hesitate to reprimand their parents if they littered, when a participant asked about efforts to ease floods in the city.
"If people continue to throw garbage everywhere, Jakarta will always face floods," Fauzi said.
But, the question of the day was posed by Ariansyah, who asked about Kalla's feelings after he failed to win the recent presidential election.
Kalla, accompanied by his wife and grandchildren, was quick to answer, "Of course, I am disappointed. It's just like the feeling you have when you fail to pass grade at school, but after the disappointment, we have to go back to work and be happy again," he said to the applause of the audience.
The Sunday gathering titled "If I were a governor" was organized by the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta), an NGO known for its advocacy for disadvantaged residents.
Fakta chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said the theme was chosen to bring children closer to issues in their everyday lives.
During the event, the organizers also held drawing and poetry reading activities, and a writing contest.
"If I were a governor, I would make Jakarta a more beautiful and comfortable place to live in. I would tell all city residents to stop littering," wrote 12-year-old Anah Paliton.
